Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Jumping for Joy

When I was 18 I remember spending, for me for then, an inordinate amount of money on a parachute suit (jumpsuit) in the shop Grasshopper which was in Edinburgh. I was there for the Festival, or more exactly, the Fringe. At that time, Rowan Atkinson was performing and Ben Elton was writing whacky productions for the Manchester Umbrella Theatre Company. Great times, they were.

My parachute suit was khaki green, had zips all over the place and a look d'enfer. Then of course, they went out of fashion and I haven't worn it since. However, I can STILL get into it, and it still looks terrific. The only problem is, it is woefully unfashionable and there is no way I could wear it and look like I was trend-setting... That's for the likes of Kate Moss, not floaters around the edge of fashion like me.

So, imagine my joy when I read today in the Telegraph that jumpsuits are coming back into fashion! Yes, it's true (even if you find it hard to believe) and you can read about it here including seeing Anneka Rice (now 48!) donning the new versions. She was, afterall, the queen of the jumpsuit! I'm wondering how long the trend will take to reach the south of France. One doesn't want to make a tit of oneself by embracing it too soon, but I would rather like to be able to wear my lovely stylish suit right there at the beginning when people are staring in wonder at how up-to-the-minute one is. It doesn't happen often, so I'd like to take maximum advantage of my status as Frontline-Fashion icon while I can...

I knew it'd come back into fashion eventually. You just have to hang onto your dearest trendy items because at some point you'll not only be able to dig them out again, but you'll have vintage fashion which, unless it's Bay City Rollers unfortunate tartan cut-offs, will give you extra street cred.

I hope you are suitably impressed that I can still get into a garment I bought at the age of 18, and that it still looks good, and just in case you think I'm deluding myself, rest assured that I'm my harshest critic when it comes to venturing out suitably dressed.

Just hope the moths haven't rendered it as holey as a crocheted tea cosy...

3 comments:

That's deux choses we have in common -- the Edinburgh Fringe and a jumpsuit. I was a student actor at the Fringe in nineteen [mumble] and again a year later. I nicked a splendid jumpsuit off the US Forestry Service when I made a TV documentary about Mt. St. Helens. That would have been 1982, can't mumble that one. I learned later that a certain young lady rather admired that garment... hmmm

Even when bell bottoms come back, there'll be a silly way that they have evolved such that everyone will still know that those are "antique" bell bottoms... as in a 505 or closure or stretch material for the pockets... I have been holding out for tie dye for the longest time. Unlikely to arrive in France any time soon, because tie dye is inherently messy.